• Provide a secure method of communication (for example, a suggestion box) so that employees can report anonymously their concerns or issues.
• Provide training on appropriate tool use.
• Do not assign 8 hours of bathroom cleaning or furniture moving to a single employee.
• Assign different jobs that require the employee to use another muscle group such as dusting followed by vacuuming.
• Assign work alternating heavy and light jobs, if possible.
• Frequent, shorter rest breaks are more helpful for rest and recovery than a single, 
  longer rest break. 
• Allot time for stretch breaks before, during and after their shift is done.
• Provide Ergonomic tools specific to a group of people rather than one type of tool for everyone to use.

• Check the weight of the trash can by tilting or tapping it.
• If bag is too heavy, GET HELP!
• Whenever possible, alternate hands to pick up and lower trash cans.
• Remain upright while relining trash cans. Do not stoop over. 
• Bend your knees, keeping your back and neck aligned.
• Be sure not to place your hand at the bottom of the liner bag since there might be sharp points.
• Empty trash cans frequently to avoid accumulating heavy loads.
• Wear PPE like a rubber apron to help put weights close to your body and prevent contamination.

Many traditional cleaning products (e.g., glass cleaner, floor finish, metal polish, toilet bowl cleaner, disinfectants) contain solvents that can be harmful to the body.

• Label all cleaning product containers.
• When scrubbing, switch hands whenever possible.
• Avoid overextending your arms. Use a telescopic handle to minimize awkward bending and overreaching.
• Use a power scrubber wherever possible to minimize repetitive forceful exertions.

• Use non-slip safety shoes when working in a wet and slippery environment.
• Stand upright and keep elbows close to your body.
• Use lightweight microfiber mops. They allow you to remain upright. If needed, bend your knees and not your back.
• Use buckets with lightweight wringers.
• Alternate right and left hands at the top of mop handle.
• Use a mop with padded handle and if padding is not present, add a foam sleeve for a better and comfortable grip.
• Walk with the mop when cleaning the floor. Avoid extreme reaches to the right and left.
• Consider purchasing angled mop handles to avoid bending wrists.
• Use telescopic pole to extend worker’s reach which also helps accommodate different heights of different workers.

• Use lightweight brooms, standup dustpans, and lobby brooms. They allow you to remain upright. If needed, bend your knees and not your back.
• Alternate right and left hands at the top of broom handle.
• Use a broom with padded handle and if padding is not present, add a foam sleeve for a better and comfortable grip.
• Stand upright and keep elbows close to your body.
• Walk with the broom when sweeping a surface. Avoid extreme reaches to the right and left.
• Consider purchasing angled broom handles to avoid bending wrists.
• Wear knee pads and kneel down to get closer to the work.

• With bent knees, lift the bucket keeping it close to your body. 
• Keep your back straight and do not twist.
• Rest the bucket on the edge of the sink while dumping water.
• To avoid lifting, get a mop bucket with a drain opening at the bottom.

• Provide tools that accommodate for differences in the body measurements of your employees.
• Provide tools telescopic poles that can be easily adjustable by employees of different heights.
• Provide tools with angled handles so that their wrist position remains relatively neutral while landscaping.
• Provide hearing protection for employees working continuously with loud motors. for example, leaf blowers, lawn mowers.
• Provide opportunities for frequent small breaks instead of one long break.
• Train individuals on basic stretches keeping in mind their physical capacity to perform such activities.
• Provide Anti-vibration gloves to those working with equipment that impart vibrations when working with them, for instance, string trimmers, hedge trimmers etc.
• For machinery that the employee sits in to operate, providing a seat that has enough suspension, can act as a buffer between the worker's back and the vibrations generated by the machinery, e.g. lawn mower.

• Move side to side instead of crossing feet over.
• For a string trimmer, maintain safe distance of at least 2 feet between the head of the trimmer and your feet.
• Try and maintain neutral wrist angles when holding it.
• Wear a shoulder strap that allows for weight distribution uniformly throughout your back.
• Wearing hearing protection if the machinery is too loud.

• Stretch and warm-up before, during and after the work is done.
• Wear a good pair of gloves to dampen the effect of different intensities vibrations from using various equipment.
• If kneeling on the ground, use foam knee pads to cushion your knees against hard ground.
• Collect any leaves onto a giant tarp or cloth to reduce repetitive lifting.
• If you notice that your arms are raised and your head is tilted back, use a stool or a ladder to perform the task to level the working surface with your arm level.
• If you have to lift a heavy item, GET HELP. To learn more, visit the Material Handling page.

• Stand upright and keep elbows close to your body.
• Place your arms at 90 degrees as much as possible.
• Alternate right and left hands at the top of rake handle.
• Walk with the rake when raking leaves to avoid extreme reaches to the right and left.
• Use rakes with telescopic pole to extend worker’s reach which also helps accommodate different heights of different workers. If that's not possible, purchase rakes according to individual standing arm heights.

• Use rakes with telescopic pole to extend worker’s reach which also helps accommodate different heights of different workers. If that's not possible, purchase rakes according to individual standing arm heights of the workforce.
• Use a stool/ladder to elevate your arm level as much as possible to be level with the roof. Seek the help of another person to ensure the base is stable and you're balanced.
• Ensure that your trunk is neither bent too much nor twisted.
• Walk with the rake when raking snow off the roof to avoid extreme reaches to the right and left.
• Keep your posture upright and keep elbows close to your body.
• Place your arms at 90 degrees as much as possible.
• Alternate right and left hands at the top of rake handle.

• Walk with the shovel when shoveling snow to avoid extreme reaches to the right and left.
• Push snow onto a unwalkable area instead of lifting and dropping it.
• Wear appropriate PPE and apply a lubricant to the shovel so that the snow is easy to slide off the shovel. Ask your supervisor for a shovel lubricant that's safe to use.
• If you have to lift the shovel with snow in it, keep your arms and the shovel close to your body.
• Keep your posture upright and keep elbows close to your body.
• Place your arms at 90 degrees as much as possible.
• Alternate right and left hands at the top of the shovel.
• Do not twist your trunk, pivot your feet instead.
• Shovel small amounts of snow more frequently rather than large amounts at once to reduce the risk of back injury.
• Take 2-3 min break every 20 min to either rest or take a stretch break. (You can find some stretches at the end of this page).

• Use pruning shears that comfortably fit your hand, without having to stretch your hand too much.
• Ensure to have pruners that are spring loaded to help reduce the manual force required for cutting.
• Use tools with some soft padding if available.

• Holding materials or components in place.
• Ascending and descending ladders.
• Pushing or pulling formwork.
• Lifting or lowering materials.
• Carrying materials.
• Hammering.
• Sawing.

• When handling form components that are heavier than 51 pounds (e.g., shoring posts) assign at least two people to lift the load.
• Building frequent and short rest breaks into the work schedule, instead of long breaks, to help reduce workers’ overuse of the same muscles for sustained periods without adequate recovery time.
• Rotating form workers through several different tasks during a shift to prevent them from performing the same repetitive tasks for a long period. 
• Having a well-planned, clear workspace and sequencing tasks to minimize the time workers spend carrying loads, and helping them avoid twisting, flexing, or extending their trunk too much.
• Providing lift assists and/or lifting devices (e.g., forklifts, hoists, and cranes) to reduce lifting and overreaching requirements and help workers move and manipulate form components, as well as tools (e.g., hand tools with extension clamps) designed to reduce bending, working on knees, and twisting whenever possible.
• Additionally, employers can tag/label the weight of form components and inform their employees about the components’ weight. Before carrying and lifting the components, form workers should test them for stability.
• Choosing to work with modular panel systems, which significantly reduce the amount of hammering, drilling, nailing, and placing of supporting beams and thereby lower employees’ exposure to repetitive movements and awkward postures associated with these tasks.

• Asking Formwork system designers and manufacturers to incorporate handles and/or grips into formwork components, without unduly increasing the weight or compromising the strength and stability of the components. This would reduce wrist-related disorders and prevent components from slipping out of a worker’s hand.
• For manufacturer to label items that are > 51lbs.

• Try not to maintain awkward postures. 
• Before carrying and lifting the form components, workers should test them for stability.
• Form workers should take time before, during and after their shift to stretch to ease body discomfort.
• When lifting/lowering form components, workers need to make sure the work area is within their comfortable reach zone, with minimal overreaching, body twisting, and bending needed, by adjusting the height and/or the location where they are standing. 
• Whenever possible, workers should bend at the knees, not the waist, and keep their elbows and the load close to their body.
• When conducting tasks such as adjusting the height of shoring posts during the preparation stage before they are upright, form workers should place the posts at a comfortable level, i.e., on the top of a stack of form components or similar places and not on the ground level, to minimize bending and reaching.

Refer the Materials Handling page to learn more about lifting weights ergonomically.